The semi-weekly fisherman & farmer. [volume] (Edenton, N.C.) 1886-1887, 1887-10-11
THE SUNDAY MORNING CLUB.
Mr.. ROBERTSON S LITTLE LECTURE-''wHAT
IS LOVE-"

seats were vacant. Roll was Calleu |
Proceedings of the previous meeting
read and corrected. The two candidates
proposed at the last meeting were elected
TO membership, ard Mr.. Bush was fined
25c for splitting on the floor. After all
necessary business had been transacted, !
the lecture promised at the last meeting !
was called for.
Mr.. RogersOn was dressed in well
fitting suit of black, cut Ell train and
wore white tie and look of anxiety.
As the President uttered his name, he
arose and made his way to the head of
the room, followed by the expected
looks of the members and an encOurag-
ing go it, Blaze" from Mr.. Burton.
Then in a low intense voice, as if he was
dunning a delinquent drummer for his
board, he said:
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. a week ago l
iOkingIy promised to make few re
marks on 'matrimOny, | did not think
you would hold me to my promise,
made in jest. The subject has been
worn threadbare by tongues more elo-
quent than mine, and [ am sorry to say.
L am unable to give you any decidedly
original thoughts upon the subject You
have insisted upon my speaking how
ever. Blame yourselves if tile talk does
not please you. There is a wide space
between a HOteIist and Lecturer-tOO
wide for me to jump.
l have tried to gather some idea of
'matrimony from our tOwns-peOple but
my success was not startling. They are
reticent upon the subject. [ asked an
old citizen day what he thought about
matriMOny as an institution. He locked
at me quietly, raised his hat and showed
me half healed scar upon his head.
He then gravely winked at me, and left
without word.
As Love is but the prelude to inatr!
mony, [ asked a welI-knOwn attorney
what was Love He explained. that 1t
was compact between two people by
which they agreed to make fools of each
other for the balance of their natural
lives
/ wrote to a well known citizen of
Washington, D. c., Mr. z. G. Adams,
and his reply came by post that Love
was an incense, sent by one on High TO
be breathed alike by rich and poor,
money could not buy 1t, it WAS a divine
tonic, free as an, and whoever was
lucky enough to get a sniff became ali
the better and purer for it. He then
asked me if [ had taken any of the
Tonic To compare notes, requested
another citizen OF the town to tell me
something about Love He replied
that Love was a dream, and that matri
fllOny was Gll6 dWdk6nIIS.
With these contradictory opinions
before me, is it any wonder that | am
unable to give you satisfactory lecture. !
I asked young man OF our town
yesterday why he did not marry. He
said he was too poor TO think of 1t.
He then bought three 10c cigars and
lost 5000 a draw poker before retireing
| asked another the same question and |
he alleged The extravaganza Ofthe mod |
ern woman as his excuse. phe latter |
gentleman then wasted 80 minutes IN !
squeezing a 20 word telegram into d ! o |
word message, and after he had sue
ceeded, he invited crowd of SIX 60
take something in honor OF his ecUn0m
ical efforts.
Personally, believe nlatrimony is an
Institution created by the Divine Power
for the purpose of saving man from !
total wreck. Some cry i6 down, and !
they have q reason for 1t. you wager !
your existence on it. Take d married |
man who warns his single acIuaintancts
against matrimOny, and ten TO one he
has either not used discretion in choosing |
his life partner else he is too lazy to
hold up MS end Of the i0g, and knows |
that his family despise him Tor his lack /
of energy. That makes some men very
bitter in their talk of what they would !
do, could they go over their life again.
1t is not uecceSsary to have 'lOaaS of |
money to marry and live happy, but a
little lucre is neCcesSary as a lubricant
to make the wheels of life run smoothly |
and prevent them from creaking.
The old Bachelor is a relic of the
past. Popular opinion has about sum
med them up in the slang query of to-
day: are you married man OF dog.
Take two young men of the same capa-
bilItieS originally and of the same char
acter, let one mary good woman and
the other remain single, and you will
find the married man is the happier.
He has more strength of character, his
opinion is worth more, and mentally,
physically and socially, he Is
the better man.
My advice 10 you, young mcn, you
who want your little fling anu who
cry not yet, and fling up your hands
ia holy horror at the idea OF matrimony,
is to pick out some nice rich girl and
try and love her. There are plenty
around Edenton that are rich. lin char
acter l meanl ask her advice about
things. Alter you are married you
won have to ask her for it. Settle
down, but first settle up, and you Will
glide down the hill of life so gently and
gradually that you wont notice the
descent. The merry laughter of chill
1ren s voices will ring in your ears like
sweetest music, and you will begin to
realize what the Exile Paine lost, when
weary and heart sick in an alien land,